What started off as a tutorial for my military friends across the country who wanted to get started reloading turned out going online for everyone.

Common revolver cartridges are very forgiving in how they are loaded. I started out with a Lee Hand Loader and did just fine w/o knowing more. Get into Semi auto and rifle cartridges, now that's a horse of a different color.

Thanks for a great thread! I stumbled onto this a year ago, which made me start thinking about expanding my shooting hobby to reloading. My first loader was a Lee Classic Progressive, which has it's limitations, but lit the fire. I started exploring other press's and decided on a Dillon. I was lucky enough to stumble onto a used 550B for a fair price. I'm now set up for 3 calibers with the wife and I shooting at least every other week. Haven't figured out all this $$$ were now saving, but for sure, we are now firing 5 or 600 rounds at a time, which = more fun!

I've never seen any advantage in buying used, progressives. People want too much for them and they get bid up way too high on auction sites. You would pretty much have to spend all your time watching CraigsList ready to pounce, since any good deals get snapped up fast, or scour estate sales. Either way it's a huge investment in time and requires luck to find what you want. Plus in a rural area or small town, there's probably not much locally.

With a used progressive you're a) probably not getting one setup the way you want (caliber, etc) and b) unless buying from someone you know and trust, there's no telling what the previous owner screwed up and what parts might be missing. Getting it all restored & setup properly is not a job for a beginner and more time than I want to spend when for a little more money I can get it complete and spend my time reloading instead of tinkering.

In fairness, I have heard you can just about find a Dillon press frame in a junk yard and they'll restore & replace everything free. RCBS also stellar customer service, in my experience.

I guess you could add me to the instant gratification crowd. No, I actually did shop used and came up empty before buying a Hornady AP.

A used single-stage, on the other hand, is likely a great value, especially if purchased from an individual. They have a minimum of moving parts and you'd have to be, uh, pretty special to screw one up.

Agree jt, you might save $100 buying a used 550 or 650. In the mean time you've spent far more than that buying expensive factory ammo. I just dont see the deal potential. Now of I was buying a 2nd press,waiting around gif a deal might make sense.

Kudos to you, Novalty.
Thank you for taking the time to compile such an exhaustive listing for everyone to benefit by. Very informative.
I was going to print it out, but it would be 10 pages. I do not know how to bookmark something here, although I must agree with everyone else that it goes without saying it should be made a sticky. This is something you refer back to multiple times.
Great work, well done. Thanks again.
Trigger9

Well it's a new year, so I figured it was about time that I update the post a little. I've added a review of the RCBS Summit Press, as well as, a link to some videos from the Ultimate Reloader on the new RCBS ProChucker presses that were introduced at last year's Shot Show.

Not quite, I just sent my 550 back to Dillon today, the refurb is $67.95. Not bad though for 30 years of use.
They told me "it will be returned as new".

Correction to be made. I received an email with tracking number for the return of my 550. No one from Dillon called, so I called them to give my credit card info. I was never one to look for a freebie.
They sent me over to billing, and the nice gent looked up my RMA. No charge, warranty issue, primer feed...yada.Yes I had some issues with the primer feed, though minor.
I didn't even ask what was done to the press, we'll see when it gets home on Saturday.

Well it's a new year, so I figured it was about time that I update the post a little. I've added a review of the RCBS Summit Press, as well as, a link to some videos from the Ultimate Reloader on the new RCBS ProChucker presses that were introduced at last year's Shot Show.

I didn't read the whole thread, but my father reloads, he enjoys doing it, it gives him something to do, I have reloaded also but the price I can buy a box of ammo for today at wal mart $9.78 for box of 50. its not cheaper for me to reload. I can just go buy a box of ammo and go shoot.. no time invested or money, i guess if you buy all your stuff in bulk it is a little cheaper but still. and this is for 9mm others might save some more.

Many may laugh but for short money and a minimalist reloading setup, don't rule out the Classic Lee Loader. It's cheap, simple, highly portable, well made and reliable. Like many, I find reloading an enjoyable process, and this stupidly simple kit forces me to slow down and focus on deliberately building each cartridge rather than churning them out with greater efficiency. When it's range time and I load one into the chamber, each carefully constructed round becomes something of more importance, and I savor every shot because I know I put the time in. Keep in mind my range time is mostly slow-shooting and deliberate (except for practicing an occasional self defense scenario); someone who runs through more ammo more often might be better off with a more efficient reloading setup.

I didn't read the whole thread, but my father reloads, he enjoys doing it, it gives him something to do, I have reloaded also but the price I can buy a box of ammo for today at wal mart $9.78 for box of 50. its not cheaper for me to reload. I can just go buy a box of ammo and go shoot.. no time invested or money, i guess if you buy all your stuff in bulk it is a little cheaper but still. and this is for 9mm others might save some more.

Bull. That 9.78 is for 50 rounds. I reload 9MM for about 13 bucks for 100 rounds. So your 100 rounds will cost you over 20 bucks while mine cost me 13.

And let's not forget how much 9MM was going for after Newtown. I remember 14 bucks a box for 50 rounds. And that's IF you find some. I got into reloading during that drought.

Reloading saves you money. There is no denying that. Just like it's cheaper to grill your own burger over getting one at a diner.

You'll notice that there are 20 different links to "outstanding" threads in the Reloading section Notable Thread Index. The Notable Thread Index in the S&W Revolvers: 1961 to 1980 section has links to 48 different "outstanding" threads.

If these were all separate links, the Stickies would dominate the front pages of the various discussion forums and the staff announcements would be lost in the mix. We have a hard enough time getting people to notice our rules, terms and disclaimers as it is.

There's one last reason and it's the most compelling of all. Lee structured it this way and he owns the board!

Generic 9mm fmj is the example that has the narrowest gap between storebought and component costs. If you are satisfied with random generic, and it meetd your requirements , ,buy it by the case and don't look back.

For the previous generation this was commercial reload .38spl. Heck , at one point there was commercial reload WC for less than my component cost. ( Economy of scale, I bought components by the thousands vs by the truckload.) But , theirs had 105fps ES , would group within 10 ring of B-27 @ 7yds on a good day. 8 stopped shooting it even for free, because it took more than an hour to scrub my gun afterwards, and life was just too short. My slightly more expensive loads would shoot 1in @ 25yds in guns otherwise capable.

So my point is in addition to pure $ , loading your own gives you control over quality, accuracy, specific bullet weights & vels, or tailoring for a specific pistol. Any of these might be meaningful to you or might not.

I spent probably 600 bucks total for press, dies, calipers, scales, wood to build my reloading bench, etc when I started 2 years ago. I've loaded at least 5000 rounds since then and the savings on that alone has allowed me to recoup that cost. .38 Special is a real money saver. 14 bucks for 100 rounds vs 45-50 bucks for store bought.

I've decided that I have to begin reloading. I MUST if I am to take longer range .308 and 5.56x45 to levels that I want. Meaning quality, consistency, and long-run price per round. I also intend to reload 9mm, .38 and .357 for fun shooting and maybe defensive carry.

So... I guess I have a lot to learn before even spending a buck. This thread will be an excellent resource. But later. My brain hurts. I think I'll go out and create some brass.

*voice in head: surely there's a tried and true whole set available somewhere that fits my needs.

I've decided that I have to begin reloading. I MUST if I am to take longer range .308 and 5.56x45 to levels that I want. Meaning quality, consistency, and long-run price per round. I also intend to reload 9mm, .38 and .357 for fun shooting and maybe defensive carry.

So... I guess I have a lot to learn before even spending a buck. This thread will be an excellent resource. But later. My brain hurts. I think I'll go out and create some brass.

*voice in head: surely there's a tried and true whole set available somewhere that fits my needs.

Pistol ammo is much easier to reload. I would start there. And whether you buy Lee dies or not (I do. I like their crimping die), the Lee website has excellent videos showing how to adjust the dies. Once they are adjusted then lock them down. I use a hornady press and the hornady twist out adapters. Mount the die in them, adjust to where you need to be, and lock it down. Once there, removing a die is a simple half twist and its out. I have yet to reload rifle ammo yet but probably will one day. Just more steps to it is all. I don't feel like trimming my brass.